Abbey News
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Bombed Out?
No, not exactly. Just dug up. The usual tranquil atmosphere reigning in the Abbey's driveway between the garages was replaced this week by the roar of construction equipment as our contractor-neighbor, Mark Vitale and his crew, tore up the blacktop pavement which had deteriorated beyond.
Br. David, our cellarer, with the one of the contractors, surveys the destruction that, not unlike the spiritual life often enough, must come before the reconstruction. But the end result was well worth all the inconvenience of it. Not only do we have a spanking new driveway but a drainage system was installed in the hope of eliminating the accumulation of winter ice which not infrequently made for treacherous driving and walking.
Visitors From Walmart
One of the area stores making Monks' Bread available to its customers is Walmarts. Up to now they have not carried our full line but only a few varieties much to the chagrin of some of their patrons. Apparently the reason is that the managers at the Arkansas home office made the decisions about which products the stores throughout the country could carry. Recently the decision was made to allow stores to carry local products according to the discretion of regional managers.
Since there is nothing more regional to local stores than Monks' Bread our distributor  invited local regional managers to visit the Abbey to tour the bakery and become acquainted with our full line. And that is what took place this past Thursday.
By all accounts the meeting was very successful and it is to be hoped that a few more of our products will soon be available in Walmart stores.
One of the dis-advantages of living somewhat of a hidden life is that people in the area do not even know of the existence of the monastery much less that Monks' Bread is not just a brand name but that it is actually made by modern monks in a real monastic bakery. For a virtual tour of our bakery visit our Bakery Tour Page.
Padre Pio
Last Wednesday we celebrated the memorial of St. Pio of Pietreclina a.k.a. Padre Pio. Those of you who are not well acquainted with this contemporary saint will find a good introduction to his life and an insight into what goes into the makings of sainthood at Fr. Stephen's homily for the day.
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